Salvia

Salvia (genus Salvia), genus of about 960 species of herbaceous and woody plants of the mint family (Lamiaceae). The genus is distributed throughout Eurasia and the Americas and is especially diverse in Central America and in the Mediterranean region. Some members are important as sources of flavouring, and many are grown as garden ornamentals. Chia (Salvia hispanica) is cultivated commercially for its edible seeds.

Clary (Salvia sclarea)

A to Z Botanical Collection/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Plants in the genus Salvia are herbs, shrubs, or subshrubs and are generally perennial and aromatic. The leaves can be simple or compound and are arranged oppositely along the square stems. The flowers are usually tubular with two lips and only two stamens and are borne in terminal inflorescences. They produce nutlet fruits. Some species are attractive to hummingbirds, though most are pollinated by insects.

Common sage (S. officinalis), a woody perennial growing 60 cm (2 feet) tall, bears aromatic leaves that are the source of the culinary herb. Another species with foliage used for flavouring is clary sage (S. sclarea), a taller, biennial herb with strong-smelling, hairy, heart-shaped leaves. Its white flowers and leaflike bracts below them are pinkish or violet-flushed. Both species are native to southern Europe.

Montane tropical America has many Salvia species, perhaps the most spectacular of which is Wagner’s salvia (S. wagneri), or chupamiel, a treelike shrub, native near the mountain lakes of Guatemala. It attains more than 4 metres (13 feet) in height and has triangular 30-cm (12-inch) spikes of woolly scarlet corollas opening from magenta calyxes. Blue sage (S. farinacea) opens bright blue flowers after rains in the hills of southwestern North America. Possibly the best-known species is the garden annualscarlet sage (S. splendens) from Brazil, the blazing spikes of which contrast with dark green oval leaves.

S. divinorum, known colloquially as salvia, is a hallucinogenicplant native to Mexico. Salvia has historically been used by shamans to achieve altered states of consciousness and has grown in popularity as a recreational drug; the leaves can be eaten or smoked. The active ingredient, salvinorin A, induces intense but short-lived effects, including changes in mood and body sensations, visions, feelings of detachment, and altered perceptions of self.

the mint family of flowering plants, with 236 genera and more than 7,000 species, the largest family of the order Lamiales. Lamiaceae is distributed nearly worldwide, and many species are cultivated for their fragrant leaves and attractive flowers. The family is particularly important to humans for...

species of flowering plant in the mint family (Lamiaceae), grown for its edible seeds. The plant is native to Mexico and Guatemala, where it was an important crop for pre-Columbian Aztecs and other Mesoamerican Indian cultures. Chia seeds are touted for their health benefits, being high in fibre...